Humidifier



June 2, 1931- E. A. sPAu| D1NG 1,308,183

HUMIDIFIER Filed Deo. 1o, 192s 2 sheets-sheet 1 W iirm; -m m` El iInvenan .Euylene Auspaulding.

@Y @gmw HUMIDIFIER 10. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. A. SPAULDING Filed Deo.

June 2, 1931.

Invenlor. Ezgenel. Spaulding. @@gm Jzy.

Patented Jane 2, 1931 UNITED STATES EUGENE A. SPAULDING, F POTLAND,MAINE applica/cien med December 1o, 192s. serial No. 325.1196.

In handling paper during the various op- Y a erations involved inthe artof printing, and to a greater or less extent in the-weavin of thematerial used in the manufacture o 5 products, there are certainfundamental diiiiculties to overcome in order thatthe work Vmay proceedunder themost favorable con` ditions.

For 4instance inprinting on large' sheets es- 10 pecially inlithographie work done in multicolors, a seasoning or conditioning ofthe paper stock` is generally `required,previous to the pressoperations, and facilitiesl providedv in the pressroom itself wherebythe proper atmospherical `state with respect to humidlty in the room maybe established and constantly maintained throughout the entire print-`ing period. l

Varying humidity conditions, or changes in the'per cent of moistureVcontent of the air cause either shrinking or swelling of the paper, and`on the constancy with which the humidity is held to any one particulardegree largely depends 'the attainment of correct registration of therepeated imprints made on the same sheet.

Furthermore, when the air is brought tov 'the desired state of humiditydiiculties caused by static electricity are eliminated, and this greatlylessens the trouble which printers call olsetting, a term applied inprinting operations when the ink is smeared by one sheet on ,to anotherduring piling. Jogging of the pile is also accomplished much more.accrueI by the moisture treatment given the atmosphere in the roomswhere the various operations are being carried von. Y

Th'e effect of variations in degrees of humidity of theair applies toand is noticeable in other occupational lines in which the material usedor operated on is susceptible of change of shape or form,hygrometrically; and where constancy in the condition of the material isessential, controlled artificial humidification of the surrounding airoil'ers one of the best if not the only remedy. l

In the conception of my'present invention, which dealswith apparatus forartificially textile v easily and advantages in many other ways`humidifying interiors, I .have had in mind,

and it is the general object ofthis invention, to provide a devicedevoid of com lication of parts, compact in form andeliclent inoperation, and' characterized by such a novel design and arrangement ofelements as will` 55 fulfill the requirements and bring about thedesired conditions as hereinbefore recited.

With this end in view I'have devised a humidifier, preferably 'embodyingin its struc-- ture a multi-grid impeditive element; a fan: 60 wheelhaving finely pitched blades and op erated at a speed. above thatusually employed in air-blast work; a closure element around thefan-wheel by means of which all" of the air projected -by the fan may beutilized, either directly through theinteriorer along the exterior ofvthe humidifier an air-current-dividing member through the agency ofwhich a relatively small proportion only of the total, air blasted bythe fan enters the impeditive element chamber-and this portion reducedin speed by entering an expansion chamber before being impacted on thegrids; and by the. construction just set forth, to provide anarrangement which produces a slow impact air force on and rearwardly ofthe vapor inthe grid chamber combined with a high speed air current'along the `exterior surface of the humidifier, tending to draw or suckthe vapor from out of the interior thereof. y Y f e f I have illustratedmy invention by the use of the accompanying drawings in which isdisclosedone embodlment thereof which, at the present time, I considerpreferable to other possible forms -in which the-invention mightbe-carriedout. Inthe drawings:k j l Fig. 1 is a side elevation of myhumidifier; Fig. 2 is a transverse view, partlylinI sec- 90 tion takenon line 2-2, Fig.1,the motor not being shown;

Fig. 3I is a diagrammatical view showing the direction of the water asit passes of the disc and is twice deflected on the double grid; v Fig.4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the device, and, l

Fig. 5 is an end view, showing the side of the disc and ends of the'grid blades.

Similar reference characters are employed 10| j elements provided forthis work.

Rising from the drip-pan are pedestals 2 and 3 supporting, respectively,the larger and smaller ends of the vaporizing chamber'casing 4. Thepedestal 3 also serves to carry the fanwheel casing 5 and extendsinwardly to provide a circular, hollow frame 6 to which -the motor 7 issecured.

The interior of the frame 6 is tapering in cross-section, the annularopening 9 at the air-inlet end being very much smaller than Mounted onthe motor shaft 10, within the casing 5, is a fan-wheel 11 having bladesset on fine pitch angles. This fan-wheel is driven by a special motorcapable of more than the ordinary speed of power units,-in the presentinstance, at 3500 or more R. P. M. On the opposite end of the motorshaft, within the vaporizing chamber A, and secured between collars 12,is a disc 13 preferably dished to provide stiffness, and secured to thefront side of the moto'r is. a vertically disposed panshaped partition14 which encloses one side of the space between the motor and the disc,

and prevents direct air impact on the latter, of air projected by thefan-wheel.

Secured to the periphery of the partition 14 are fiat ri-n 15 and 16outwardly from the forward si es of each of which, at their margins,extend twisted blades 17 and 18, respectivlyf-the two rings or gridsbeing held in spac relation by collars 19, The blades 17 arecomparatively close to the periphery of the disc 13 and their ends, asalso the-ends of the blades 18, extend forwardly beyond the plane inwhich the outer or forward face, of the disc revolves.

Extending from any convenient source of water su plf-as for instance, astreet main, and on w 'c is preferably placed a reducing valve (notshown), is a pipe 20. This pi conducts water at moderate ressure to t ereceiver 21 of the automatic eed-water controlling device D. From thereceiver a small tube 22. carriesa regulated supply of water to the disc13, a valve within the device D automatically regplating the flow ofwater to the disc throug the agency of the hygrometrically responsiveelement E.

By the use of this regulatory element D,

substantially no more waterl is fed to the disc than is needed tomaintain the desired deree of humidity in the/room. Occasionally,owever, there may b e a few dro s unva orized, and these, as hashereinlliefore geen stated, fall into the drip-pan 1.

As the device D forms no specific part of my present invention and isthe subject of a the face of one on the inner grid, which re` ceives thefirst impact of the water from the disc, deflects the water so that itimpacts on the blade immediately at its rear on the adjacent outergrid,and thence to the wall of the casing 4. i

The impact of the water on the blade 17 is of such potence that itreadily deflects to the blade 18, against the retarding effect of theadverse current of air circulating in the same direction asthe disc 13rotates, and although it has now spent a considerable portion of itsdriving force, what momentum remains in the water, together with theassist-y ance of the before mentioned current of air, acts to continueits movement towardthe c'asing 4,- from which it rebounds and is pickedup by 'the outgoing air and' distributed into space in the form of thenest mist or fog.

While the multiple-grid feature which, as a matter of fact, m ay includemore than two annular grids, is considered an improvement over a singlegrid, a characteristics feature of my humidifier. which I esteem ofequal and possibly of greater importance is the method employed tocontrol the distribution of air to the interior and exterior of thehumidifier ith respect to the speed of the two respect ve bodiesf-theinteriorly directedbody of air being of less velocity than the exteriorcurrent. The arrangement works out so satisfactorily that with but onegrid'the apparatus shows marked eiiiciency.

If reference be had to Fig. 4 it will be observed that, jointly, theframe 6 and the casing 5 provide two outlets for blasted air from thefan-wheel 11. The annular opening 9 is comparatively small and airenters it at the speed at which the air was projected from the fan; but'immediately upon entering the chamber C this air fans out, so to speak,and

loose a large part of its velocity andmpacting force by expanding intothe space chamber C) which is many times the capacity of the enteringaperture.

Thus, when the interior air current reaches the grids it is travellingat a much reduced speed from that of the air current which exits throughthe relatively large annular opening 23,- which latter air current ismoving along the exterior of the casing 4.

So that while a high velocity air current is paing along the exterior ofthe casing 4 into forward space, a comparatively slow moving current ofair is passing the grids.

Now, after the slow moving air and vapor moves to the outer end of thecasing 4 and starts into space, it is enveloped in and picked up by thespeedily moving exterior air blast encircling the casing, and acommingling and mix' of the heavily vapor-laden air and the lighter anddryer air takes .place with the result that a further disintegration ofthe moisture content of the air occurs.

I believe I have evolved a new principle in humidifiers, in that Itransform the initial, one-speed air blast from the fan-wheel into twoair currents of varying velocities, relatively,the slower of the twoacting direct' ly on'the impeditive elements and moving at such a speedas will gently move the vapor forwardly after the impactionof the water`on the grids, but not of such potency as will force into'the roomglobules of water off the grids or the casing enclosing them, and thefaster moving air current, although not outwardly confined so as to beprojected in` too concentrated a manner, yet directed wholly in agenerally forward direction, utilized eX- clusively'todraw, by suctionaleffort, the slower, advancin vapor-laden air from the vaporizing cham rand effect a thorough union or,reuniting of the two currents togetherwith the vapor, and project the combination into the room.

The fore oing recital of the operation of my humi er has been fulfilledand accom-V plished by a demonstration of the device in actual practice.o

A further advantage in operating the fan- 'wheel at an unusually highspeed and conining the initial air movement within the fanwheelfcasingso that substantially L00 per cent is utilized when discharged boththrough and around the humidifier, instead of being largely dissipated,in other directions, is'that a very much smaller and more compactdevice is provided, operating with less noise and having the samecapacity for humidication purposes with greatly imf proved and moreeffective results attained than is the 'case with many humidiiers builton larger and more conventional lines.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is o 1. A humidifiercomprising in combination with a revoluble shaft, a disc and afan-wheelv secured to said shaft, of a fixed impeditive elementsurrounding said disc, said element including a plurality of annulargrids disposed in transverse alignment, relatively, each grid having aplurality of blades respectively disposed obliquely Vto a radial line, acylindrical casing concentrically disposed .Y around said impeditiveelement and spaced therefrom to provide un annular space, a

.i 'frusto-conical portion on therearward end of said casing, a frameadapted to support said casing and said frusto-conical` portion thereof,an annular aperture through said frame, another cylindrical casing, saidsecond casing adapted to surround said fanwheel and extend forwardly toprovide, be-

tween it and said frusto-conical portion, an

annular outlet for air projected from saidfan-wheel on to the exteriorof said rst mentioned casing, said outlet being of relatively greaterwidth than the annular aperture through said frame, an interiorpartition extending inwardly from said impeditive elegrid next adjacentare circumferentially l spaced, a casing concentrically disposed aroundsaid grids and spaced therefrom to provide an annular air-passage-way, afrusto-conical portion on the. rearward end of said casing, a framesupporting said casing, an annular aperture through saidA frame, thewalls surrounding the same diverging toward the front of saidhumidifier, an expansion chamber forwardly of said frame adapted toreduce the impact pressure of the air passing through the aperture insaid frame, a fan-wheel on said shaft, a second casing adapted tocircumvent the air projected by said fan-wheel ,and control and directits movement in a generally forward direction, an annularair-passage-way between said fan-wheel casing and said frame ofrelatively larger dimensions than the aperture through said frame, apartition adapted to deflect the air coming from said fan-wheel,

but reduced in impact pressure in said expansion chamber, oversaidfgrids and to provide also against .impact o said current of air onsaid disc, means to conduct water to Y said disc, and means to rotates'aid shaft.

` 3. A humidifier comprising in combination a revoluble shaft, afan-wheel ixed on said shaft, a casing surroundingand spaced from saidfan-wheel vand extending forwardly thereof, a disc secured to saidshaft, an impeditive element located outwardly of and lin radialalignment with said disc, said element including a plurality of bla-deseach thereof disposed obliquely to a radial line, a second casing spacedfrom and adapted to surround said impeditive element, vthe rearward endbeing reduced in diameter, a frame joining said casings and extendingfor a substantial distance into the said first casing, whereby there isformed between the rearward end of said frame and the forward end ofsaid rst casing an annular space opening out of the forward end of saidfirst casing, an annular opening through said frame providingcommunication between the interiors of the two said casings, said lastmentioned annular opening being of relatively smaller width than theannular opening between the said frame and the said rst casing, andmeans to rotate said shaft.

4. A humidifier comprisin a revolubl'e disc, a fan wheel, an impeditiveelement, a casing surrounding said impeditive element,

a casing surrounding said fan wheel and disposed rearwardly of saidfirst mentioned casing, a partition protecting said revoluble disc from'direct impaction thereon of air projected by said fan wheel, 4apassage-way from said fan wheel casing 'permittlng air to be projectedtherethrough over the outside of said rst mentioned casing, and apassageway-of smaller cross-sectional area than said first mentionedpassage-way, through which a lesser volume of air may be projected intoAthe interior of said irst mentioned casing, said interior constitutingan expansion cham-` ber for the air entering. it from said smallerpassae-way..

humidifier comprising a revoluble vdisc, a stationary impedltiveelement, a casing surrounding said impeditive element, the rear endthereof being" of smaller diameter than its front end, a fan wheel, acasing surrounding said fan wheel and extending forwardly thereof, thefront end of said second casing bein of larger diameter than the rearend of sai rst casing, providing thereby an annular space'between thetwo said casings through vwhich air projected by said fan 'wheel maypass and continue over the outside of said first casing, a frame withinthe smaller end of said first casing, a relatively large chamberforwardly of said fra-me, an

annular opening through said frame of less transverse area than that ofthe annular space between said casings, said opening constituting apassae-way into sa1d chamber for air projected by said fan wheela tiontransversely disposed within and of lesser diameter than the largerportion of said first casing, measured interiorly of the latter, saidpartition located rearwardly f said revoluble disc and adapted toprevent impaction of air thereon from said fan wheel, and means torotate said fan wheelI and said revoluble disc.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature. EUGENE A. SPAULDING. I

